


a shy witch's wing-cat

by BatWingsandBlackCats



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Magical School AU, Witch AU, familiar AU, this is mindless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 13:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10663746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatWingsandBlackCats/pseuds/BatWingsandBlackCats
Summary: When Laura starts being visited by another witch's familiar who keeps bringing her presents in the form of dead things (much to Laura's owl's delight) LaFontaine is convinced that Laura has a secret admirer, but Laura's not so sure.





	a shy witch's wing-cat

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! Hope all's well with you guys. Here's another little AU that's been collecting dust in my docs that I've finally finished up. 
> 
> Based on the prompt: _Lately your familiar has been spying on me and bringing me gifts of affection (mostly dead things) I love the attention and all but you could just come and talk to me yourself._
> 
> Unfortunately I don't remember where I found the prompt, but I hope you guys enjoy!

The first time it happened, Laura nearly had a heart attack. 

She’d been sitting at her desk in her dorm working on her Intro to Enchantment Theory homework, when a black mass suddenly popped up on her windowsill, not two feet in front of her. She’d yelped, nearly knocking over her mug of cocoa, until she realized that the black mass was actually a small, black cat. That was still fairly alarming though, considering Laura’s dorm was on the second floor. Laura’s owl hooted indignantly and ruffled his feathers, annoyed at Laura for having disturbed his nap. Laura rolled her eyes at him before looking back to the cat to find it staring at her, almost thoughtfully. 

“How did you get all the way up here?” She wondered aloud, reaching out to gently drum her fingers against the glass. 

The cat leaned forward and sniffed at the glass where Laura’s fingers were, and then looked up at her again, it’s deep green eyes boring into her. Around its neck sat a black leather collar, a small, gleaming silver buckle resting under its chin. 

Laura returned to her work, occasionally glancing up at the cat with a little smile on her face, amused at how it was seemingly content to just sit there and watch her, until she looked up again, suddenly finding the cat gone. Laura’s brow furrowed, and she leap up from her desk to get a better view out the window, afraid the cat may have fallen from the ledge, but then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the little cat trotting across the courtyard outside. 

“That was weird,” She chuckled to herself, watching the cat go for a moment more before going back to her homework. 

The cat’s appearance may have been weird, but it’s presence on campus wasn’t. Laura attended the Silas University for Magic and the Supernatural, and the cat was almost certainly another witch’s familiar, much like Laura’s barn owl, Murphy. Or Murph, for short. (That’d been his name when he chose Laura and he wouldn’t answer to anything else.) Laura was studying witchcraft, per her natural gifts, but that wasn’t the only thing that could be studied at Silas. Her friend Danny Lawrence was a Valkyrie, and taking the appropriate classes for that, mainly consisting of battle courses and outdoor rec, LaFontaine, who lived a few doors down from Laura with their partner Perry, was studying Alchemy while Perry had a few classes with Laura, seeing as she was also a witch, but focusing on Kitchen Magic. 

Laura had yet to figure out her specific area of witchcraft, so for the time being she was dabbling in a little bit of everything. Because of this, and because of her first-year status, her dorm was located in the first-year building, a long, grey stone building with two large, dark wood doors in the center, each carved with the school’s crest. The slate roof was littered with chimneys and spires, and metal rods and contraptions. Laura’s room was at the end of the second floor, with two wide windows spilling light into the small room. A small fireplace was set into the wall, neatly bordered by the same grey stone as outside, and the walls were wallpapered in a deep maroon, with barely-there gold flowers dotted around. Her desk was flanked by two book shelves that were cluttered with all manner of books and artifacts, neatly stacked, and her bed was pushed into the corner by the fireplace and covered in a patchwork quilt.

As she sat down at her worn desk to finish her paper, she moved her index finger over her cocoa in a circular motion, and soon steam rose from the mug, the cocoa piping hot again. 

//

The second time it happened, Laura was marginally more prepare, but not for what the cat brought with it. 

A dead mouse. 

Laura debated for a good ten minutes on whether or not to let it in, but eventually the cat’s wide, pleading green eyes and the fact that it hadn’t stopped scratching at the window since it arrived won Laura over, and she opened the window. 

The cat trotted in and sat down before the witch, dropping the mouse onto the desk and looking up at Laura, clearly pleased with itself. 

Laura looked between the cat and the mouse, trying to figure out what to do about it until she heard an excited hoot behind her. She turned to see Murphy eyeing the mouse and clicking his beak. Laura grimaced as she turned around, and picked up the mouse by the tail and dropped it in Murphy’s cage. 

“Eugh,” She said with a shudder, her nose scrunching up as she wiped her hand on her jeans. She turned back to the cat and couldn’t help but laugh at its proud demeanor. “Yes, that was...very sweet,” Laura said with a little smile, patting its head. A glint of silver caught Laura’s eye, and she looked down to see a tag on the cat’s collar. “Bagheera,” She read out loud. “huh, so you’re a girl.” She scratched Bagheera’s chin. “But who do you belong to?”

The cat just blinked slowly at her and gently bumped Laura’s chin with her head, and then slipped back out the window.

//

The third time, Laura was relieved (and Murphy was disappointed) that Bagheera had only brought a red feather, presumably from a cardinal.

//

The fourth time, Bagheera brought a bat. An _actual_ bat. A very dead bat. Laura had given Bagheera a pat on the head as she tried to figure out what the hell to do with it. Murphy was very annoyed when Laura wouldn’t let him eat it. 

//

A week later, Laura was sitting with LaFontaine in the courtyard, waiting for Perry to finish with her Herbs and Fungi test, when she saw Bagheera scamper across the lawn, kicking up dry, brightly colored leaves in her wake. 

“That’s the cat!” Laura said excitedly, shaking LaFontaine’s arm to get their attention. “That’s Bagheera!”

LaFontaine looked over to where Laura was pointing, and watched Bagheera trot over towards one of the other dorm halls. “I never took you for someone who’d be excited over a cat bringing you dead things,” LaFontaine said, “that’s more my speed,”

Laura rolled her eyes. “It’ not the dead things, it’s the sentiment. It may be gross but she’s so proud of herself when she brings them to me. And Murph appreciates the snacks.”

LaFontaine raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, still sounds more my speed,” They set their book down. “So how long has this been going on?”

“A few weeks?” Laura said. “I still don’t know whose she is. She just shows up once in a while with something she caught,”

“Sounds like someone has a secret admirer,” LaFontaine grinned nudging Laura’s arm.

“Who has a secret admirer?” LaFontaine and Laura looked up to find Perry settling down in front of them. Perry looked at them expectantly.

“Laura,” LaFontaine grinned.

“I do not!” Laura said quickly, glaring at LaFontaine.

“Someone else’s familiar is bringing her presents,” LaFontaine continued smugly, still grinning. 

“Oh, that’s sweet!” Perry said with a smile.

“The presents are small dead animals,” LaFontaine added. 

Perry’s face immediately soured. “Oh, um, I mean, if she’s a cat, I suppose that’s still...sweet? Though very unsanitary...”

“See?” Laura said, “Once you get past the gross part it’s adorable,”

“Whatever you say, frosh,” LaFontaine said. “I still say that Fluffy here isn’t working alone,” 

//

Later that evening, Laura had just crawled into bed when she heard scratching at her window. Rolling her eyes amusedly, she threw off the covers and hurried to the window, cracking it open enough to let Bagheera in. 

“No snacks this time, huh?” Laura asked, scratching her behind the ear. Bagheera purred, and when she bumped her head against Laura’s cheek, Laura noticed a piece of rolled up paper tied to Bagheera’s collar. Curious, Laura pulled it off, and unfurled it. 

_Sorry about the dead presents, Cupcake. When I told Bagheera to bring_  
you something, I didn’t think she’d be bringing you her catches. I think you’ll   
like this a little better. Cast it in complete darkness. It’s safe, I promise. 

_\--C.K._

Laura read further down the note, and found a fairly simple spell--illusion magic, she was pretty sure--but one she’d never encountered before. It didn’t look like anything she’d seen in her textbooks. She was momentarily distracted by Bagheera’s soft meow by the window, obviously wanting to go back to whoever _C.K._ was, and let her out before going back to her bed and flicking the light off. 

Laura conjured a little ball of light in her palm to illuminate the paper, and carefully read the spell aloud, making the corresponding gestures with her left hand. As she finished speaking, she clenched her right hand, snuffing out the little ball of light, and gasped, immediately in awe of what she saw before her. 

Her room was suddenly illuminated by a tiny version of the galaxy, spanning only about three feet wide. It spun lazily, the stars twinkling, the tiny nebulas bursting with color, and she felt gentle sparks against her skin when the edge of the little galaxy brushed against her cheek. She ran her hand through the illusion, the tiny starts becoming swirls of light and then reforming into original shape again after a moment. 

Laura looked down at the note and chuckled as she read it over again, her stomach fluttering. Whoever C.K. was had told Bagheera to bring her tokens? She blushed a little bit and glanced towards the window, and then hopped off her bed to see if Bagheera was still there. She was. The little black cat was still perched on the edge of her windowsill, her luminous green eyes surveying the courtyard. Laura scrambled for a piece of paper and a pen, and scrawled a note of her own

_Don’t worry about it, I thought it was sweet. And thank you for the spell,_  
it was beautiful. Think you might tell me who you are? This is all very sweet but  
you could just come say hi. :) 

_\--Laura_

\-------

Laura sat down beside LaFontaine on a bench in the courtyard the next day with a huff. “So I think you might be right,” She said, biting her lip.

“I usually am, but what about, this time?” LaFontaine said, taking a bite of an apple. 

Laura rolled her eyes. “That familiar that’s been bringing me dead things? She brought me a note last night,” She said, holding it out to LaF. Laura watched as LaFontaine read over the note, a grin spreading over their face. 

“I knew it,” They said triumphantly, their grin only widening when Laura blushed scarlet. “what does the spell do?”

“It works better in the dark, but,” Laura started, taking the paper back. She’d memorized the spell by now but she still wanted to make sure she’d gotten it right. She muttered the words and made the corresponding gestures, and once again, the tiny galaxy appeared before the two of them. 

“I was so right,” LaFontaine said smugly, their eyes gleeful. “they _so_ have a crush on you. Know who they are yet?” 

Laura ended the spell and tucked the note back into her book, her blush bright as ever. “I sent a note back last night asking about that,” She said. 

“That is adorably middle school,” LaFontaine smirked. 

“Yeah, yeah, how else am I supposed to find out?” Laura said, hands flailing. “She didn’t exactly leave a phone number!”

\-------

That night, like clockwork, Bagheera popped up in Laura’s window. Laura squealed and leapt from her bed where she’d been doing the reading for one of her classes, and threw open the window. In trotted Bagheera with another note tied to her collar. Laura carefully took it off and grinned, and raced over to get a treat for Bagheera (while giving a rather grumpy Murph a handful as well) before sitting down to read the note. 

 

_Happy to hear you liked the spell, Cupcake. And about finding_  
out who I am, why don’t you meet me at the bench next to the fountain  
in the courtyard Friday at five PM? Maybe we can get coffee?

_\--C.K._

“Oh my gosh, please don’t be a Zeta,” Laura begged out loud as she grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from her desk. 

_That sounds great! I’ll be there._

_\--Laura_

\-------

Carmilla sat on the bench by the fountain that Friday, fiddling with the zipper on her leather jacket. 

This was probably a terrible idea. 

This _was_ a terrible idea.

What had she been thinking? Laura was probably just being nice in her notes, sending Bagheera to her (and especially Bagheera bringing her _presents_ ) was probably creepy, in retrospect. Of course little dead animals was creepy. She should have been more specific with Bagheera, but then again, no matter how smart she was, she was still a cat. At least little dead presents meant affection in cat terms. 

But still, Laura said she’d be there, so Carmilla hoped.

Carmilla checked her phone again. One minute after five pm. She took a breath and looked up again, but her breath caught when she saw Laura not twenty feet from her, hurrying across the courtyard, kicking up leaves in her wake. Carmilla stood up, unable to hide a smile as Laura stopped a few feet in front of her, out of breath. Carmilla had only ever seen Laura from far away, or across a classroom. Seeing her up close was...overwhelming. Her honey hair danced around her shoulders as the wind blew, and her smile went all the way up to her eyes, their warm whiskey hue looking like amber in the sunlight. 

“I’m assuming you’re C.K.?” Laura panted, a shy smile on her face. Now that she saw her, Laura realized she had two classes with Carmilla. Carmilla never talked in class but she was exceptional, always learning quickly and casting beautiful spells. She’d been curious about her for a while, but she never figured her for shy or...incredibly cute.

Carmilla nodded, and suddenly found her voice. “Carmilla,” She said. “I’m hoping you’re Laura,”

“I am,” Laura nodded, smiling. 

Carmilla found herself staring at Laura for a moment, but shook herself out of it quickly. “Coffee?” She asked, trying to keep her cool. 

“Sounds good,” Laura grinned, holding her hand out to Carmilla.


End file.
